Please Stop
by SerenityFalconNormandy
Summary: Written for the Dragon Age Reddit Weekly Writing Prompt: Prompt: Inquisitor's POV: Their thoughts as everyone sings The Dawn Will Come. Fen'lath didn't want this. She never wanted this.


When the shouting had woken Fen'lath up, she had been discomfited to see that she had been left to Mother Giselle's care. Her relationship with the Chantry Mother had grown strained since the woman had joined the Inquisition, as she seemed to be wilfully ignoring that Fen had no interest in converting to Andrastianism, or pretending to be divine at all.

Every concern of hers was waved off with a 'The Maker brought you to us'. The other woman's misplaced faith was getting tiring, and Fen spent most of her time alone wondering how far she could run before the seemingly benign Mother sicced Templars on her. As much as she appreciated the fact that she needed the Inquisition to stop Corypheus and close the rifts still remaining after the closure of the Breach, it was still the Chantry. The same Chantry that had destroyed her people's homeland and continued to harry them with their forces when they had nothing better to do.

Memories of clans sundered by Templars, the knowledge that her own mother had likely been taken by them, made it hard to trust any of the people surrounding her. Most days, she felt like Solas was the only one who could empathize with her feeling of displacement. Dorian understood some of it, but he was noble, human, and Andrastian. He couldn't grasp the particulars of being a non-Andrastian elf in the middle of a group actively pushing her up on a plinth as a holy figure for their religion, with no regard to what she actually believed, or even felt.

When Giselle tried another one of 'The Maker' speeches, Fen had to grit her teeth and maintain a neutral expression on her face. Her head was pounding, and her face hurt. Removing her gloves, she gently touched the aching part of her mouth. Scabs criss-crossed her lips. Moving up her cheek, she found scabs that came much too close to her eyes, and a large band of healing flesh across her neck. It was easier to ignore Giselle while taking stock of the newly acquired scarring. As soon as there was an opening, Fen stood and hurried away from the overbearing human woman. Giselle's mouth pinched with disapproval, knowing her attempt at converting the Dalish savage, or at least talking her into pretending to be Andraste's Herald, had failed once again.

The shouting had stopped, at least. Josephine stared into the fire while Leliana sat next to her, silent and cold. Cullen and Cassandra glared at each other over their salvaged war table, attempting to plan… something. Fen wracked her brain, taking deep breaths and calling on everything Keeper had taught her about being a leader. She was preparing a speech in her head when her thoughts were scattered by singing.

"Shadows fall,

And hope has fled

Steel your heart

The Dawn will come."

Giselle stepped forward, a glint of triumph in her eye. Fen thought, _Oh no. What is she doing?_

"The night is long,

And the path is dark

Look to the sky,

For one day soon,

The Dawn will come."

Josephine and Leliana perked up, hope flooding their faces. Cassandra's hard expression relaxed, and her eyes softened. When the Mother started the next verse, Leliana joined in.

Fen'sskin crawled with discomfort.

"The shepherd's lost

And his home is far.

Keep to the stars,

The Dawn will come."

Breaths coming faster, Fen fought the urge to run as more voices joined in. Soldiers, servants, humans, too many humans were surrounding her and singing. Cullen joined in, and she wanted to scream "Stop!"

"The night is long

And the path is dark.

Look to the sky,

For one day soon,

The Dawn will come."

More people closed in on her. Her heart pounded against her breastplate, and her breaths were coming so fast she was starting to feel light-headed. She knew what had happened to elves that the Chantry had claimed as holy before. When would they light the pyre and throw her on it? A martyr was easier to use than a living, breathing person who could speak the truth.

When they started kneeling to her, it took everything Fen had to keep herself from fainting, or screaming at them to stop it.

"Bare your blade,

And raise it high.

Stand your ground

The Dawn will come.

The night is long,

And the path is dark.

Look to the sky

For one day soon

The Dawn will come."

She caught sight of Solas, bemused and shaking his head at the _shemlen_ foolishness. So many faces now filled with hope and belief that she was something divine, something sent by their god, none of hers. Fen shook as Giselle said something, she couldn't even hear it over the ringing in her ears, but the expression on the Mother's face was smug.

Fen wanted to throw her arms around Solas and weep with relief when he asked for a word and led her away from all those staring eyes, all hungry for something she couldn't give.

How long would they wait before they turned on her, as the humans inevitably did with their inconvenient prophets?


End file.
